January 2021 Jail for Somerset man who discussed child abuse fantasies with Canadian paedophile Canadian police helped to track down a Somerset man who discussed his child abuse fantasies with a paedophile on the other side of the Atlantic. Stephen Tomaszewski, 52, used the photo sharing website Flickr to communicate with a man who had come to the attention of investigators in Canada. The pair sent more than 900 messages to one another. When police in the UK searched Tomaszewski’s home computer they found more than 300 images of child sexual abuse. The defendant appeared at Taunton Crown Court after admitting possessing indecent images of children. He also pleaded guilty to possessing extreme pornographic images involving animals. Tomaszewski had a previous conviction for for distributing indecent images dating back to 1998. The judge said the defendant, of Haylard Drive, Wembdon, Bridgwater, showed a clear sexual interest in young girls. He said: “You weren’t simply looking at images you were communicating with a paedophile on the internet and talking about your shared intimate thoughts.” Judge Paul Cook jailed Tomaszewski for nine months. Prosecutor Harry Ahuja said: “Police in the UK were informed by police in Canada that a suspect they were looking into in Canada using the photo application Flickr had been speaking to this suspect via the app. “There were various conversations between the two which caused concern. The theme was a sexual attraction towards young girls.” Police in the UK visited Tomaszewski’s home on January 2020 and he gave consent for his computer equipment to be seized. Examination revealed 15 extreme pornographic movie clips showing bestiality. The computer tower had a cache of child abuse images. The images could not be viewed but there was evidence they had been in the past. In total there were 65 images in the most serious category (A) of abuse, 52 of category B and 233 of category C. Ages of the children involved ranged from five to 11. A police investigator said there was a lot of material highly indicative of child abuse opened and viewed since September 2017. There was also evidence Tomaszewski had communicated with a second paedophile on the internet. Judge Cook said the offences were more serious because Tomaszewski had not acted in isolation. He said: “You are motivated by a sexual interest in children. It is a long-term historic interest. “The nature and the seriousness of the offences can only be met with immediate imprisonment. You knew full well what was going on over the two years. These were images of young children and you were communicating with others.”